Nuclear Terrorism False Positives

There are two excuses for the police state, the state that New Labour seems to want to create, that are used more than any other. The first is 'If you've done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide' neatly reversing the burden of proof that is the basis of the our judical system. This is fairly easy to counter, just asked them precisely how and to whom they last made love. When they start to look flustered and try to tell you it is none of your business as you've won, since they just admitted that there are some things best kept private.

The other excuse is that some lost liberties are worth the price of the Horror™ that the Evil Terrorists™ want to unlease on us. The problem here is that they simply do not understand the problem of false positives. For example if someone who is having life saving radiotherapy can trigger shutting down an area whilst the security services search for a non-existant neucleur weapon then yes had there been a bomb there they might have found it. But the terrorist has just created the same effect of disruption, and general fear without having to go to the expence of planting a bomb. He is getting a victory, by making people affraid without lifting a finger. Whenever we let our lives be disrupted by terrorists they win, as long as are lives carry on as normal and the pathetic little fanatics are left screaming at the moon we win.

The IRA learned this trick so that they would give out coded warnings before setting off a bomb so that the area could be evacuated and everybody knew who had done it. However later they would give out the coded warnings without planting the bomb, tieing up the security services for hours and getting them the news coverage that they wanted without having to spend any of their cash on Semtex which could be better invested in drug running. The terrorist want to caurse distruption and fear, both of which are created just as easily by people thinking that something bad is going to happen as by something bad actually happening.